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FBI agent testifies in al-Shabab trial

A Minnesota man accused of sending cash and fighters to a Somali terrorism group told the FBI he was a "team leader" for al-Shabab, according to testimony in federal court Tuesday.

FBI agent Kiann VanDenover told jurors that while Mahamud Said Omar was in custody in the Netherlands, he told the FBI he helped take two Twin Cities men to the airport in August of 2008, knowing that they would join al-Shabab once they got to Somalia.

VanDenover testified Omar said he took five other men later that fall to a travel agency to buy their tickets to Somalia, and then attended a "going-away dinner" for that group of men the night before their departure in November of 2008.

Omar's attorney has said Omar was a simple janitor who wasn't capable of running anything.